Group sues Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority over ‘refusal' to release info on MoPac South expansion
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Save Our Springs (SOS) Alliance filed a lawsuit in civil court Friday against the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) to try to prompt the release of information related to the proposed MoPac South Expansion, accusing the authority of withholding information that should be released publicly.
The 8-mile project could add express lanes in each direction between Cesar Chavez Street and Slaughter Lane.
The SOS Alliance said in a press release Monday that because the project runs directly over the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone from Enfield Road to Slaughter Lane, it 'threatens iconic landmarks and public spaces, including Lady Bird Lake, Zilker Park, Austin High School, the Barton Creek Greenbelt, and Barton Springs,' and that its years-long construction 'will harm air and water quality, public and student health, and critical habitat of the endangered Barton Springs and Austin Blind Salamanders.'
The expansion project has been in the works for over a decade but has faced delays due to legal reviews and the COVID-19 pandemic. The most recent development was an open house held from Nov. 12, 2024, to Jan. 28, 2025, according to the project website.
New renderings for MoPac South Project released
KXAN reached out to the CTRMA to ask for a comment on the lawsuit. The authority responded with the following statement:
We will respond to the lawsuit through the legal process. While we typically don't comment on pending litigation, we assure you that CTRMA follows all of the requirements of the Texas Public Information Act, including seeking a ruling from the Texas Office of the Attorney General when appropriate, and we are complying with the Attorney General's ruling with regard to Mr. Levinski's and Mr. Bunch's requests.
Jori Liu, Director of Communications for Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority
The next steps, outlined in the open house document, are to publish the Draft Environmental Assessment Document for public review, then hold a public hearing on it, and then finalize and submit the Environmental Assessment Document. After that, CTRMA would receive the Environmental Finding. There are no projected dates for these steps to occur, other than all except the last being identified to happen sometime in 2025. Receiving the finding is projected to occur in 2026.
SOS Alliance said in its release that it filed the lawsuit 'based on CTRMA's refusal to provide factual data and traffic modeling analyses that underpin CTRMA's public claims on improving traffic flow and avoiding any 'significant' environmental damage made during its recent and ongoing public engagement process.'
The suit details three separate public information requests made to CTRMA by the SOS Alliance. The suit says CTRMA has refused to fully respond to the three requests, with CTRMA citing 'deliberative process' or 'draft document' privileges, according to the release.
Those requests were detailed in the lawsuit as follows:
June 26, 2024: SOS, through its Senior Staff Attorney Robert 'Bobby' Levinski, submits a request for records to CTRMA regarding the proposed MoPac South Express Lanes Project
July 11, 2024: CTRMA, through its attorney, requests a letter ruling from the Texas Attorney General on the information requested by SOS
Sept. 16, 2024: Texas AG determines CTRMA could withhold the requested information
Dec. 23, 2024: SOS, through its Executive Director, William 'Bill' Bunch, submits another request to CTRMA seeking information relating to and serving the basis for CTRMA's decisions to reject alternative proposals for the Mopac South Lanes project and to adopt the recommended '2C' option.
Dec. 31, 2024: SOS, through Bill Bunch, submitted a request to CTRMA for the release of memoranda or reports on the Mopac South project summarizing or analyzing modeling results that predict travel times and travel-time changes under different alternatives, including both tolled and free lanes.
Jan. 15, 2025: In a letter to the Attorney General, CTRMA stated that it had provided SOS with certain information requested on Dec. 23, 2024, and would withhold the remaining information. The lawsuit also claimed that CTRMA 'mischaracterized' Bunch's Dec. 31 request as a 'clarification' to the Dec. 23rd request. CTRMA then requests a ruling from the Texas Attorney General regarding the withheld material.
The lawsuit said that as of the date of the suit's filing, 'while Defendant [CTRMA] has released some limited responsive information, the vast majority of the requested information continues to be withheld.'
The Texas Attorney General's office issued preliminary opinions supporting CTRMA's denial, but SOS Alliance said in its release that those opinions 'are not binding' and are 'often misapplied,' noting that the deliberative process exception does not shield factual information or technical observations from public disclosure.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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